A Part of You Too
It’s very easy to interpret it as: “I am not my thoughts.”
“No matter how deep I dig, I will never find a me.”
“There is no me.”
The opposite is a way better strategy.
“Hey, a new thought. That’s a part of me too.”
Or:
“Hey, a new thought. That shows a new side of me.”
The point is that you being responsible for your body is basically the point of consciousness.
The reason you differentiate yourself from your thoughts is because that’s how your body (so you, and others) explains that to you.
If I have pain in my body, or an uncomfortable feeling, I want more of it. I move toward it. Let me feel all the pain. More, please.
Why You Should Always Move Toward Tension
Tension is the thing between you and the other thing.
You ------------- tension ------------- other thing
So, if something doesn't feel right in your body or in your life, it is important that you always move toward the tension. Because that is where the problem is.
For example, if you have pushed away a memory or a feeling, or when you have pain in your body, go toward that pain. Try to feel more of it.
The solution is precisely there, where the uncomfortable feeling is.
It is tempting to do the opposite and move away from the tension. For example, by avoiding it or pretending that there is no tension. But that isn't true. The tension is really there.
Note: The word “tension” is hard to translate from the Dutch word “spanning.” It means something more electrical than merely spiritual or metaphorical.
I was 6 years old, sitting in my room, and I asked my brain:
"How do you work, brain?"
I started getting answers.
"It's like playing the piano," Mary said. (My brain's name is Mary.)
"Think in terms of playing the piano and ballet. Something like that. We can shape the inside of your brain.
Let me show you. If you touch something on the left, you have to touch it on the right two times too.
See? Now we have picked up a rhythm together. We made it through this level.
In normal life, people forget that they went through this phase, so we call it OCD."
Since this whole neuroscience thing is getting hilarious, let me tell you a little secret about how a brain really works.
You can figure it out from the inside out.
OCD, for instance—the phase where you have to touch everything on the left and then on the right three times—is when you learn to pick up the pace of your thinking.
It is also possible that you start every thought with the same chords, or play the same chord the whole time. Let's call that autism.
There is nothing wrong with that. You are just being a little bit inflexible.